JOSEPH STALIN

World War II began in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland and both France and Britain declared war on German in the days that followed. The conflict led to two large alliance systems being created between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers. Both sets of alliances produced some of the most memorable and significant leaders of the 20th century. Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union during the course of World War II.

Joseph Stalin was born on December 18th, 1878, in Gori, Georgia. Georgia was a country that was located between Eastern Europe and West Asia, but was still part of the Russian Federation. He was born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili and began using the name Joseph Stalin in his early 20’s.

Joseph Stalin

At an early age, his father struggled with alcoholism and the left Joseph and his mother. Soon after, Stalin gained a scholarship to a seminary school in order to study to become a priest. He didn’t finish with the school and instead became an atheist. After he left the seminary school he began reading the writings of Vladimir Lenin and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which practised Marxism. The group would eventually form into the Bolsheviks under the leadership of Lenin, which Stalin also joined.

As part of his membership in the Social Democratic Labour Party, he often found himself in trouble with Russian authorities and was sent to Siberia several times as punishment. When World War I broke out, Stalin was drafted into the Russian Army but did not serve due to a badly injured arm that he had hurt as a child. During the course of World War I, Russia suffered a massive loss of life which negatively impacted the morale of the country. As such, the Marxist movement led by Vladimir Lenin gained strength and popularity.

Young Joseph Stalin

Vladimir Lenin

Tsar Nicholas II

At the time, Russia was led by a tsar, which was the title for the Russian absolute monarchs before 1917. Tsar Nicholas II ruled over Russia before and during the first parts of World War I. The mounting Russian casualties and lack of supplies led to an increased amount of anger directed at the Tsar and his handling of the Russian war effort. At the same time, Russia was a society that was sharply divided and the poorest Russians struggled to survive day-to-day. Poverty was widespread, especially among Russian peasants, who worked for the landowning nobility. This all combined to set the stage for a revolution against the Tsar and his rule over Russia.

In 1917, Vladimir Lenin led a series of revolts against Tsar Nicholas II. Soon, Tsar Nicholas II and his family were imprisoned and Lenin and the Bolsheviks assumed power over Russia. For his part, Stalin assumed control of the Communist Party Newspaper ‘Pravda’ or ‘Truth’ and used the paper to publicly support Lenin and the Bolsheviks’ actions in the country. In the years following the Russian Revolution and the resulting civil war, Stalin worked his way up into a leadership position within the Communist Party established by Lenin. By 1922, Lenin had appointed Stalin General Secretary, which allowed him the ability to begin appointing close allies to positions of power.

Vladimir Lenin

Also in 1922, Lenin suffered a series of strokes. As a result he essentially retired from the leadership role and Stalin gained more control. However, it was during this time that Lenin began to grow suspicious towards Stalin. Lenin was critical of Stalin’s political views and the methods he was using to maintain power. In fact, Lenin wrote a ‘Testament’ in which he criticized Stalin’s leadership and argued that he should be removed from the position of General Secretary. However, Stalin and his allies prevented Lenin’s testament from being presented to others in the Communist Party. Lenin died of another stroke on January 21st, 1924.

Following Lenin’s death there was a power struggle in the Soviet Union between Stalin and his allies and Leon Trosky, a trusted ally of Lenin. Stalin eventually isolated Trosky within the power structure of the Soviet Union and forced him into exile. Stalin’s rise to power was complete as he centralized all power in the Soviet Union under himself and ran the country as a dictatorship. Although Stalin claimed to be a Marxist-Leninist, his own interpretations of communism were influenced heavily by his desire to maintain absolute power and control.

Over the remaining years of his life he would he would be the dictator of the Soviet Union through several key events, including: the Ukraine Famine, World War II, and the Cold War.

The Ukraine Famine, which is also known as the Holodomor, was a period of starvation caused by the policies of Joseph Stalin in 1932 and 1933 in the country of Ukraine. The famine was caused when Stalin collectivized the farms of ethnic Ukrainians and seized stores of grain for use in industrializing the Soviet Union. Many historians view the famine as a result of actions taken of Stalin and therefore categorize the event as genocide. It is estimated that between 2.5 to 7.5 million people died of starvation during the Ukraine Famine.

Stalin’s involvement in World War II was also very important. He allied the Soviet Union with both France and Britain in the face of growing German nationalism and aggressor in Central Europe. However, just before the start of the war, Adolf Hitler and Stalin agreed to a non-aggression pact, which allowed Stalin to better prepare his country for the industrial needs of war at that time. The non-aggression pact between the two nations ended after Hitler decided to invade the Soviet Union in 1941. This immediately turned Stalin into an enemy of Hitler and the Soviet Union joined forces with the other Allied nations against Nazi Germany. To learn more about World War II and Stalin’s role in the war, click on the links above.

The Cold War occurred immediately following the end of World War II and saw the Soviet Union face off against the United States in a war of ideologies that last for 45 years. Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union in the early years of the Cold War and played a significant role in Cold War events such as the Berlin Blockade and the Korean War.​Stalin died on March 3rd, in 1953. Millions of people remember his as a tyrant for the terrible acts he carried out against millions of people. As well, he is often associated with other 20th Century dictators and remembered for his brutal rule over the Soviet Union. He also played a key role in several major world events including World War II and the Cold War.​